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Gao C, Wang F, Danovitch JH. Can touchscreens replace teachers? Chinese children's character learning from a touchscreen-based app, video, or face-to-face instruction. J Exp Child Psychol 2024; 244:105961. [PMID: 38776633 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2024.105961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2023] [Revised: 04/11/2024] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Given the increasing prevalence of touchscreen devices that are intended for educational purposes, this study explored children's transfer of learning from touchscreen media compared with video and offline face-to-face learning. A total of 76 5- and 6-year-old Chinese kindergarten children (M = 68.21 months, SD = 3.57, range = 62-76; 30 boys and 46 girls) were randomly assigned to learn eight Chinese characters using a touchscreen-based app, using a video, or through face-to-face interaction. Learning was measured via the recall task scores, recognition task scores, recall efficiency, and recognition efficiency. The results revealed that children's recall and recognition task scores improved when learning took place using the touchscreen or face-to-face interaction. Children's recall efficiency and recognition efficiency were strongest in the face-to-face condition, followed by the touchscreen condition and then the video condition. The effects of instructional format on children's recall and recognition scores and recall efficiency were moderated by age; younger children's recall and recognition scores in the face-to-face condition and the touchscreen condition were significantly higher than in the video condition, yet older children's recall and recognition scores did not differ between conditions. However, for recall efficiency, younger children's recall efficiency in the face-to-face condition and the touchscreen condition was significantly higher than in the video condition; older children's recall efficiency in the face-to-face condition was higher than in both the touchscreen condition and the video condition. In conclusion, both face-to-face interaction and a touchscreen-based app were helpful ways for children to learn Chinese characters compared with video, but face-to-face learning showed advantages over touchscreen learning in recall efficiency for older children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chunying Gao
- School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei 430079, China; Institute of Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Fuxing Wang
- School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei 430079, China.
| | - Judith H Danovitch
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA
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2
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The impact of screen exposure on attention abilities in young children: a systematic review. Pediatr Neurol 2023; 142:76-88. [PMID: 37001326 DOI: 10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2023.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Revised: 11/05/2022] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The neurocognitive consequences of exposure to screens in school-aged children have been the subject of multiple studies. However, the relationship between screen exposure and neurocognitive development, especially attentional functions, remains unclear in preschool children. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the immediate and long-term impact of screen exposure on attentional functions in preschoolers. METHODS Three electronic databases (PubMed, COCHRANE, and SCOPUS) were searched for studies published between January 1, 2000, and November 30, 2020. Two reviewers independently selected studies. Inclusion criteria were observational studies, inclusion of children aged less than seven years with no neurodevelopmental disorders, evaluation of screen time, and evaluation of attentional functions. Data extracted including participants' ages, number of participants, screen exposure time, attention assessment tool, and confounding factors. Study quality was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. RESULTS Five cross-sectional studies were included: all reported significant, positive associations between high levels of screen exposure and attention difficulties. Ten longitudinal studies were included: six found a significant impact of earlier screen exposure on subsequent attentional function and four found no relationship. Eight of the studies included evaluated the direction of the relationship between screen exposure and attentional difficulties: seven suggested the relationship is bidirectional. CONCLUSIONS These findings support current guidelines to limit screen time in preschoolers to prevent the development of attention difficulties.
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Breeland N, Henderson AM, Low R. Initial interactions matter: Warm-up play affects 2-year-olds’ cooperative ability with an unfamiliar same-aged peer. J Exp Child Psychol 2022; 218:105328. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2021] [Revised: 11/09/2021] [Accepted: 11/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Hamilton M, Ross A, Blaser E, Kaldy Z. Proactive interference and the development of working memory. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2022; 13:e1593. [PMID: 35193170 PMCID: PMC9640215 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2021] [Revised: 12/07/2021] [Accepted: 02/01/2022] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Working memory (WM), the ability to maintain information in service to a task, is characterized by its limited capacity. Several influential models attribute this limitation in a large extent to proactive interference (PI), the phenomenon that previously encoded, now-irrelevant information competes with relevant information. Here, we look back at the adult PI literature, spanning over 60 years, as well as recent results linking the ability to cope with PI to WM capacity. In early development, WM capacity is even more limited, yet an accounting for the role of PI has been lacking. Our Focus Article aims to address this through an integrative account: since PI resolution is mediated by networks involving the frontal cortex (particularly, the left inferior frontal gyrus) and the posterior parietal cortex, and since children have protracted development and less recruitment of these areas, the increase in the ability to cope with PI is a major factor underlying the increase in WM capacity in early development. Given this, we suggest that future research should focus on mechanistic studies of PI resolution in children. Finally, we note a crucial methodological implication: typical WM paradigms repeat stimuli from trial-to-trial, facilitating, inadvertently, PI and reducing performance; we may be fundamentally underestimating children's WM capacity. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Memory Neuroscience > Cognition Neuroscience > Development.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Zsuzsa Kaldy
- corresponding author: Dr. Zsuzsa Kaldy, University of Massachusetts Boston, Dept. of Psychology, 100 Morrissey Blvd, Boston, MA, 02125,
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Courage ML, Frizzell LM, Walsh CS, Smith M. Toddlers Using Tablets: They Engage, Play, and Learn. Front Psychol 2021; 12:564479. [PMID: 34135793 PMCID: PMC8200401 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.564479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2020] [Accepted: 04/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Although very young children have unprecedented access to touchscreen devices, there is limited research on how successfully they operate these devices for play and learning. For infants and toddlers, whose cognitive, fine motor, and executive functions are immature, several basic questions are significant: (1) Can they operate a tablet purposefully to achieve a goal? (2) Can they acquire operating skills and learn new information from commercially available apps? (3) Do individual differences in executive functioning predict success in using and learning from the apps? Accordingly, 31 2-year-olds (M = 30.82 month, SD = 2.70; 18 female) were compared with 29 3-year-olds (M = 40.92 month, SD = 4.82; 13 female) using two commercially available apps with different task and skill requirements: (1) a shape matching app performed across 3 days, and (2) a storybook app with performance compared to that on a matched paper storybook. Children also completed (3) the Minnesota Executive Functioning Scale. An adult provided minimal scaffolding throughout. The results showed: (1) toddlers could provide simple goal-directed touch gestures and the manual interactions needed to operate the tablet (2) after controlling for prior experience with shape matching, toddlers’ increased success and efficiency, made fewer errors, decreased completion times, and required less scaffolding across trials, (3) they recognized more story content from the e-book and were less distracted than from the paper book, (4) executive functioning contributed unique variance to the outcome measures on both apps, and (5) 3-year-olds outperformed 2-year-olds on all measures. The results are discussed in terms of the potential of interactive devices to support toddlers’ learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary L Courage
- Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada
| | - Lynn M Frizzell
- Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada
| | - Colin S Walsh
- Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada
| | - Megan Smith
- Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada
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Choi K, Kirkorian HL, Pempek TA. Touchscreens for Whom? Working Memory and Age Moderate the Impact of Contingency on Toddlers' Transfer From Video. Front Psychol 2021; 12:621372. [PMID: 33716887 PMCID: PMC7943612 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.621372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2020] [Accepted: 01/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Toddlers exhibit poor transfer between video and real-world contexts. Contingently responsive video such as that found in touchscreen apps appears to assist transfer for some toddlers but not others. This study investigated the extent to which toddlers' working memory moderates the impact of contingency on toddler's transfer of learning from video. Toddlers (24–36 months; N = 134) watched a hiding event on either (a) contingent video that advanced only after touch input or (b) non-contingent video that proceeded automatically. Toddlers then searched for a corresponding object on a felt board. Additionally, toddlers' working memory (WM) was assessed. Findings indicate WM and age moderated the impact of contingency on transfer: Contingency decreased transfer in younger children while increasing transfer among older children. However, this was only true for children with relatively low WM. Contingency had little impact on transfer among children with relatively high WM, regardless of age. Results from this study suggest that WM is one specific moderator that predicts whether toddlers are likely to learn from contingent vs. non-contingent video, yet WM does not operate in isolation. Together, these findings underscore the importance of considering multiple child characteristics when identifying the optimal conditions for toddlers' learning from symbolic media.
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Affiliation(s)
- Koeun Choi
- Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, United States
| | - Heather L Kirkorian
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Tiffany A Pempek
- Department of Psychology, Hollins University, Roanoke, VA, United States
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Subiaul F, Stanton MA. Intuitive invention by summative imitation in children and adults. Cognition 2020; 202:104320. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2019] [Revised: 04/22/2020] [Accepted: 05/03/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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8
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Lenninger S, Persson T, van de Weijer J, Sonesson G. Mirror, Peephole and Video - The Role of Contiguity in Children's Perception of Reference in Iconic Signs. Front Psychol 2020; 11:1622. [PMID: 32760329 PMCID: PMC7371794 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2019] [Accepted: 06/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study looked at the extent to which 2-year-old children benefited from information conveyed by viewing a hiding event through an opening in a cardboard screen, seeing it as live video, as pre-recorded video, or by way of a mirror. Being encouraged to find the hidden object by selecting one out of two cups, the children successfully picked the baited cup significantly more often when they had viewed the hiding through the opening, or in live video, than when they viewed it in pre-recorded video, or by way of a mirror. All conditions rely on the perception of similarity. The study suggests, however, that contiguity – i.e., the perception of temporal and physical closeness between events – rather than similarity is the principal factor accounting for the results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Lenninger
- Centre for Languages and Literature, Cognitive Semiotics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.,Department of Early Childhood Education, Kristianstad University, Kristianstad, Sweden
| | - Tomas Persson
- Department of Philosophy, Cognitive Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | | | - Göran Sonesson
- Centre for Languages and Literature, Cognitive Semiotics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
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Strouse GA, Samson JE. Learning From Video: A Meta‐Analysis of the Video Deficit in Children Ages 0 to 6 Years. Child Dev 2020; 92:e20-e38. [DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
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10
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Zimmermann L, Frank HE, Subiaul F, Barr R. Applying computational modeling to assess age-, sex-, and strategy-related differences in Spin the Pots, a working memory task for 2- to 4-year-olds. Dev Psychobiol 2020; 63:42-53. [PMID: 32729131 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2018] [Revised: 04/14/2020] [Accepted: 05/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Working memory (WM) develops rapidly during early childhood. In the present study, visual WM (VSM) was measured using the well-established Spin the Pots task (Hughes & Ensor, 2005), a complex non-verbal eight-location object occlusion task. A self-ordered hiding procedure was adopted to allow for an examination of children's strategy use during a VWM task. Participants (N = 640) between the ages of 2 and 4 years were tested under semi-naturalistic conditions, in the home or in a museum. Computational modeling was used to estimate an expected value for the total trials to complete Spin the Pots via a random search and child performance was compared to expected values. Based on this approach, we determined that children who found six stickers retrieved them in significantly fewer trials than the expected value, excluding chance performance and implicating VWM. Results also showed age-related and sex-related changes in VWM. Between 2 and 4 years of age, 4-year-olds performed significantly better than younger children and girls out-performed the boys. Spontaneous use of a color matching hiding strategy was associated with a higher success rate on the task. Implications of these findings for early development of VWM are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Zimmermann
- Department of Psychology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Hannah E Frank
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Francys Subiaul
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.,Department of Anthropology, Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.,Institute for Neuroscience and Mind-Brain Institute, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Rachel Barr
- Department of Psychology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
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Kirkorian HL. When and How Do Interactive Digital Media Help Children Connect What They See On and Off the Screen? CHILD DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/cdep.12290] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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